Hosea 4:5

Hosea 4:5 says, Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.  God was warning the people of Israel that they were going to be destroyed because of their actions.  God was not allowing them to fall as a nation because of any failure on His part.  The people of Israel as a nation had turned their backs on God, and even the prophets had become corrupt. People today, even followers of Christ, often do not want to hear what God teaches, but put their faith in the things of the world.  I will state again that as followers of Christ, when we do not follow His leadership, that does not mean we are uno longer saved, but it does mean that we are no longer effective witnesses for Christ and no longer find satisfaction in life.  God's promise to Abraham was still in effect.  Those who were truly God's people, though small in numbers would still see His promise fulfilled.  Today people of the world, those who would love to eliminate God from any aspect of life, refuse to listen to those who proclaim God, and do everything they can discredit those who proclaim Him.  Verse six adds, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.  I do not believe that the warning could have been more direct.  Those who called themselves God's people had no knowledge of Who He really is.  If we forget the knowledge of God, we will no longer be a priest, one set aside to serve God, to Him.  When we forget the law of God, He will allow us to suffer the consequences in this old sinful world.  It was a sad thing that God was going to forget those who were to be His representatives in the world.  Again, this was based on their forgetting His law.  We today may display God's law on signs and monuments, but until it is written in our hearts and directs our actions, it is but an empty display.  Verse seven continues, As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.  God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be vast in numbers, but here God says that as their numbers increased, they sinned against Him.  Today, the numbers of those who profess to be followers of Christ may be great, but many sin against Him by proclaiming other requirements in order to obtain salvation than simply faith in His sacrifice.  God said He would change their glory into shame. When we glory in our own abilities instead of God's abilities, we will end up shamed in God's eyes. Verse eight concludes, They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.  God said those calling themselves His people were full of sin and set their hearts, their innermost nature, on iniquity.  When we allow other things to get between God and us, we are chasing after iniquity.  Verse nine states, And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.  None of God's people, including the priests, those who were to represent Him to His people, can sin without expecting a penalty to have to be paid.  As followers of Christ, we never lose our relationship with God if we sin again, but we lose our effectiveness and the joy that salvation brings.  Sin is never without consequences.